Singapore wants foreign workforce to beat falling fertility rate

SINGAPORE: Singapore, which has a sizable number of people of Indian origin, should take in 30,000 foreigners as new permanent residents every year to beat the falling fertility rate and ensure that its economy remains competitive, the government said today. A White Paper on Population has proposed that Singapore should take in 15,000-20,000 new citizens each year from the PR pool of about 500,000-600,000 that would have to maintained by 2030 to stop the population from shrinking. By 2050, there would be more people above the age of 50 than younger Singaporeans. Replacing them would be challenging because of the falling fertility rate in the city state About 30,000 new Permanent Residents (PR) is needed to keep the PR population stable at 500,000 to 600,000. Over 900,000 Singaporeans, more than a quarter of citizens, would retire from the workforce between now and 2030, ac...